What do you consistently think about when you wrap up your day and walk into your comfortable territory called your home? Is it relief that you are home? What about, what’s for dinner? Or is it I have so much work to do, my evening is not mine.
Sadly, there are more people that walk into their homes and think about when they are going to finish working with the piles of work they brought home with them. It has become their new way of life, but they don’t remember how they got there. Do you?
Here are some simple ways to go back to leaving work in the office and enjoying your family time again.
Set office hours and stick to them. Learn when you are most productive and schedule the time as your office hours.
If needed, allow for one evening a week to catch up, but make it a later start time in the day to accommodate the late evening.
Mapping the calendar on Monday and fill in the gaps with work that must be completed during office hours. Add all existing appointments to your Weekly Task List.
Coordinating new appointments and tasks as your last appointment for the day.
Schedule your social media time before your office hours and set a timer to stop scrolling. Five minutes should be all you need.
Answer emails at a two set times every day and remember no email is an emergency.
Turn off notifications on your phone to avoid interruptions.
When you have completed everything, make sure you are ready to take the next step, because this is probably the biggest habit breaker you will have.
Turn off the computer so you will not be tempted to check emails one more time.
Turn off the office lights, push the chair up to the desk and put a closed sign on the desk.
Here are some other tips that have helped me be more successful at managing my days for more productivity.
Delegate! Hire a Social Media Assistant or a Virtual Assistant for tasks that you are not able to complete during office hours, including updating email lists from weekly networking groups.
Have at least two set days for any personal appointments to avoid temptation to schedule during office hours.
It’s time to reclaim your family time and enjoy life again. It is easy to let it slip away, especially when you are a business owner wearing all of the hats. Your family time is precious and when family sees an entrepreneur always at work, they remember the fun was missing. Technology has created a stronghold on us as business owners because we have the speed to access everything lightning fast. But isn’t it time that we wrap it up and get back to doing some things we enjoy.
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